The Contagion
by AgentT
Summary: The Gua have taken something, but is it what Cade, Jordan, and Eddie think it is?
1. The Contagion

  
Quatrain 20, Century 6: Tides of mortals and none/ look toward a new risen/ hidden in the silver roses   
  
  
  
  
Capital Pharmaceuticals Corp.  
9:15 AM   
  
  
"Well, hello." A man said, smiling.   
  
"Hello. I was wondering if you could direct me to your public relations office." The woman said, looking around lost.   
  
"My name is Harold Donaldson, I'm the director of operations. You are…" He prompted.   
  
"Me? Oh, I'm Elise Landon." She said. "I'm supposed to have an interview with Mr. Jenkins in about-" She checked her watch. "Ten minutes. But I am afraid that I am hopelessly lost." She focused her eyes back at Harold and smiled. "I mean, I've tried asking the front desk, but honestly, who do I have to sleep with to get some directions?" She grinned again.   
  
Harold laughed nervously. "Well, uh, if you'll follow me, I can take you to the offices." He said. "You need a special clearance to get onto each floor." He led her to a nearby elevator in a corner, away from the other elevators. "This is for employees only. It leads to the protected offices. The other elevators out in the lobby are for the areas that do not need protection."   
  
"Really?" Elise said, her eyes lighting up. Her interest was captured. "Is there really a need for all that security?"   
  
"Well, Miss Landon-"  
  
"Call me Elise." She said. 'And I hope you're not violating a rule or anything, I'm not an employee." She beamed and pulled a strand of hair from her face. She frowned and adjusted her skirt.   
  
Harold chuckled nervously. "Well, Elise. The security isn't necessarily for outside intruders, more for our own internal company. The projects we work on are often contained in absolute sterile environments. If anyone were to accidentally open the door without the proper gear on, well the entire sterility would be compromised."   
  
"Wow." She said, nodding. "I can see why you need that kind of protection. You can't open a door if you don't have the key."   
  
"That's right. Now, if you're here for an interview, a guide was supposed to meet you down here. You can't access anything without someone with the proper clearance." He frowned. "Did no one meet you?"  
  
"Unfortunately, no.' She said. "I don't know what happened. I asked the secretary up front, such a darling. She tried paging someone but no one came. And I thought that I'd just find my way up on my own, but all these stairs and floors." She laughed.   
  
"Well, it is quite easy to become perplexed in this building." Harold said. "Did you say you were inquiring about a position in the public relations office?"   
  
"Yes I did." Elise said.   
  
As the elevator glided to a stop, the door opened and Elise stepped out, followed by Harold. He quickly took his eyes off the back of her skirt.   
  
Elise glanced behind her and caught the man staring. She started to walk, followed by Harold. She stopped suddenly and turned around, the older man running into her.   
  
"Oh, oops." She said. "I just realized that I left my briefcase in the elevator." She said.   
  
***   
  
"I'm so sorry." Harold apologized, probably for the 80th time now. Elise shook her head and her red curls shook.   
  
"Not a problem. I think I should be grateful that Mr. Jenkins is in a meeting." She said. "I hope they find it."   
  
"They should." Harold said. He looked at his watch. "There's a lot of floors, but only a certain number are accessed with that elevator."   
  
"Oh." Elise said, smiling. "You can go." She said. "I mean, I'm sure you're a very busy man, I don't want to keep you from your work."   
  
"Oh don't be silly. The only work I have to do is find a lost briefcase." He laughed. Elise laughed at his joke.   
  
A uniformed security guard walked to them then.   
  
"Miss Landon?" He said.   
  
"Yes, did you find it?" Elise looked up hopefully.   
  
"We have located it on our security cameras. " He handed Elise a picture. "Is that it?"  
  
Elise grinned and laughed. "Yes, that's my briefcase. Where is it?"   
  
"If you will come with me to the security area, we have it." He said, turning.   
  
"All right, well uh.." She looked at Harold. "It was nice meeting you. I should go get-"   
  
"Uh, yes." Harold stammered. "Nice meeting you."   
  
As she stood up and smiled, she followed the security guard to an elevator.   
  
***   
  
" Right this way." The guard said leading her out of the elevator. Several people curiously watched the uniformed man lead the woman to the security area.   
  
When they were inside a small room, the guard closed the door.   
  
"We're in business." A voice said.   
  
Elise looked at the security guard and smiled. "Good job, Eddie."   



	2. The Contagion

Harold sighed. He took out his clearance card and ran it through the keypad. He punched in his code and a little green light lit up. He pushed the door open and picked up a photo frame resting on his desk.   
  
The phone rang.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi, Honey."   
  
Harold swallowed. "Hi, Mary. I was just looking at your picture."   
  
There was a laugh on the other end. "I had a feeling you were looking at me."   
  
"Are we still going for lunch?" He asked nervously.   
  
"Of course." She said. "Why wouldn't I want to see my husband?"   
  
Harold smiled. "See you then, honey."   
  
"I'll see you." She said.   
  
***   
  
"I don't see anything." Cade said.   
  
"Neither do I. Eddie, are you sure there's useful information?" She asked. "It all looks like a bunch of numbers."   
  
"There was a tip given that the Gua had established a small division in Capital Pharmaceuticals devoted to experimental weaponry." Eddie said.   
  
"This obviously can't be good. " Jordan said. "I can't find anything."   
  
"It's there." Eddie said. "Are you sure you can't see anything?"  
  
"Wait." Cade said. Jordan stopped. "Check under Projects and Developments."   
  
"What for?" Jordan asked. "They're not going to put it in plain sight."   
  
"Sometimes the best place to hide is right in the open." Cade said.   
  
"Wait, what's this?" Jordan asked. A window popped up, prompting a password.   
  
"What's Division 4?" Cade asked. "Eddie, can you get us in?"   
  
"If I could, don't you think you'd be looking from behind my shoulder instead of getting into the building?" Eddie said. "Security is really tough there. I could barely get you the security job, Foster."   
  
Suddenly, a window popped up.   
  
"What the-"   
  
WARNING: SECURITY BREACH ON LEVEL 9. CONTAMINATION PROBABLE. EVACUATE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY.   
  
A red siren light above the door started to flash and Cade and Jordan were basked in red light.   
  
"We have to get out of here." Cade said.   
  
"What's going on?" Eddie asked, sitting up.   
  
"I don't know, Eddie." Jordan said as she exited the system and pulled out a disc from the drive. They quickly joined the end of an evacuating crowd.   
  
"What's going on?" Jordan asked a woman.   
  
"Level 9 has been breached." She said hurriedly. "They're taking everyone out. Someone said that the CDC is coming."   
  
"CDC?" Cade asked. "Why?"   
  
He had shed his security shirt and his ID card said he was Robert Blake, software engineer.   
  
There was no reply.   
  
Jordan and Cade followed the crowd out the front doors, where there were already a large mass of people. They had gathered far from the building, and some of them had even run up the hill next to the parking lot. Almost everyone was on the other side of the street.   
  
They untangled themselves from the rest of the people and wove through the cars until they found the SUV they had come in.   
  
"Eddie, are the cameras taken care of?" Cade asked.   
  
"Of course. There was a technical glitch and from 8:30 onward, there was no feed." Eddie happily said.   
  
"Nice." Jordan said. "There's the CDC."  
  
"Why would the company have contamination?" Cade asked. "They deal with vitamins and antihistamines."   
  
"Unless there's something on Level 9." Jordan said.   
  
"Or there wasn't any breach or contamination." Eddie said.   
  
"What do you mean?" Jordan asked, watching the white van pull up to the building. Four figures in haz-mat suits jumped out.   
  
"Well, I have bugs in some systems, just to see what they've been doing. The one I have in the CDC access panel is completely silent. Nothing even remotely like this has happened in the past week." Eddie said. "According to the CDC computer, no one called about an outbreak of anything."   
  
"So either the computer is wrong or-"  
  
"Or that's not the CDC." Cade finished.   
  
"So who are they?" Eddie asked.   
  
***   
  
"Hurry!" Aaron shouted. The other three men clad in protective suits picked up the pace as they carried equipment inside.   
  
They were watched by several people who were still making their way out of the building.   
  
"Are we contaminated?" One hysterical man shouted.   
  
"We're going to die, aren't we?" A woman asked and grabbed Aaron's sleeve.   
  
"Ma'am, calm down." One of the other men started to pull the crying woman off Aaron.   
  
"We don't have time for this, Jared." Aaron said and pulled out a gun from the case he was carrying.   
  
The woman's eyes grew big.   
  
Aaron raised the gun and the woman slumped down, a trail of red leaving from her chest.   
  
"You didn't need to do that." The other man said angrily.   
  
Aaron looked around at the three other people. He shook his head.   
  
"I'm sorry." He said, and shot all three.   
  
"That wasn't needed, Aaron." Doran said as Aaron as he and Jared entered the elevator. "You just slowed us down."   
  
"They were in the way." He stated.   
  
"No they weren't." Jared said angrily. "All you had to do was ignore them."   
  
"Well, it's too late now, isn't it?" Aaron shot back. "And what's four humans compared to what Mabus will do? " He said, smiling.   
  
***   
  
"We have to get inside." Cade said.   
  
"But what if there really is a contagion loose?" Jordan asked. "They might not be CDC, but I'm betting they're Gua. And we were looking for evidence of weapons, remember?"  
  
"She's right, Foster." Eddie said. "This could be the real deal. It's too much of a risk to go in."   
  
"There isn't anyone in the van." Cade said. "If we can't go in, we can at least find out what they're doing."   
  
Jordan and Cade left the car and started to walk towards the van. The attention of the crowd was riveted to the silent and empty building.   
  
Jordan pulled the back door open and she got inside. Cade shut the door as she rummaged in the dark. A sliver of light illuminated her direction as she looked at piece after piece of information.   
  
"What do you see?" Eddie asked.   
  
"It looks normal CDC information." She said.   
  
"Foster, what's the plate number?" Eddie asked.   
  
Cade quickly glanced at the back of the van. "THG 5931"   
  
In his trailer, Eddie typed the number in. "it's a legitimate CDC vehicle." He said. He shook his head. "The CDC computer says it's still docked though. They must've covered up the computer."  
  
"Yeah I'm sure there's Gua in the CDC." Jordan said. "I don't think they left anything in here. Just standard CDC equipment. Nothing alien."   
  
***   
  
"Quick, grab it." Aaron instructed as Jared took out a stack of discs from a safe. He stashed them into a case and did the same with several papers that were also in the safe.  
  
"We're almost done." Doran said, carefully placing several vials of yellow liquid into a padded container.   
  
"Let's get out of here." Aaron commanded as Jared locked up the case and Doran picked up his container.   
  
***   
  
"Jordan they're coming back out." Cade said, quickly running up to the crowd. He drifted to the side, so he would be obscured.   
  
Jordan Radcliffe shoved a case shut and hastily locked it. She gingerly stepped through the middle and opened the driver's door. She jumped out and gently shut the door. It closed with a small click. She met Cade's eyes and slipped into the crowd as the four Gua left with their equipment.   
  
They loaded their equipment and left without a word, leaving the puzzled employees without an explanation.   
  
"What's going on?" A voice in the crowd asked.   
  
There was a murmuring of confusion. No one knew.   
  
"Guys, there's a call coming in to the CDC." Eddie said. "It's coming from your area."   
  
"Look for anyone using a cell phone." Cade said and he and Jordan spread out, watching.   
  
"Oh man." Eddie said. "It's coming from directly inside Capital Pharmaceuticals."   
  
"There's someone still inside." Cade said.   
  
"They must have hid. I doubt the Gua would leave anyone alone if they saw them."   
  
"Eddie, can you pick up the call?"   
  
Eddie was frantically typing. Windows popped up and disappeared. "You'll hear it."   
  
"Please-please help."   
  
Jordan arched her eyebrow. "That's Harold Donaldson, the director of operations."   
  
"Help. The men-they shot-" There was nothing.   
  
"The CDC computer is-what?!?" Eddie said, baffled.   
  
"What is it?" Jordan said urgently.  
  
"The CDC computer is refuting the call. It's passive, like nothing is registering." Eddie shook his head. "As soon as the call was picked up by the CDC, the computer erased the call log and hung up."   
  
"What's it doing now?" Jordan asked, looking at Cade.   
  
"I'm not sure." Eddie blinked. "But I think it's restarting itself and reprogramming. It's going back to normal, deleting any log that would show any evidence of any call that came in from Capital Pharmaceuticals."   
  
"The Gua are smart. They're going to make it so nothing happened." Cade said, gazing at the hollow building. "And no one knows there are people inside."   
  
"Eddie, replay the call." Jordan said.   
  
Harold's strained voice came across again.   
  
"There." Jordan said. "They shot. The Gua must have shot some people that were still in the building."   
  
"Then how are they going to cover that up?" Cade asked.   
  
"Probably claiming that one of them went on a psychotic rampage and shot his co-workers." Eddie said. "The Gua do have a flair for what the public hates to hear."   
  
"So no one knows what to do." Jordan watched the multitude talk amongst themselves, wondering what to do. "And they don't know there are people injured inside."   
  
"I don't think there's any contagion." Cade said. "There's something inside that they wanted to get."   
  
"Why did they want to evacuate the building then?" Jordan asked, shaking her head. "It doesn't make sense."   
  
"What if the Gua wanted to take something, but they needed to have protective gear? From what I've gathered, Level 9 isn't anything that requires protection, but who knows what the Gua are doing behind the cover?" Eddie said.   
  
"That's true." Cade said.   
  
By this time, the crowds has grown restless and several people had started to walk back inside. A few had pulled out their cell phones, talking to police, who were surely baffled.   
  
"I think it's time to go inside and-"   
  
A rush of energy knocked everyone backwards as in the matter of seconds, the building was engulfed in a ball of fire. The force and flame put everyone down to the ground and many screamed. Rubble flew from the building, pelting them. Glass was incinerated and flames dove down like the angels of the heavens. Cade and Jordan shielded themselves from the explosion by running to a nearby car.  
  
In his trailer, Eddie scrambled to pull his headset off his head as static invaded his ears.   
  
"Eddie?" Cade shouted among the confusion.   
  
The building had blown. Into a cinder it now laid, a reminder of nothing.   
  
Nothing and no evidence. No Harold. No traces of Gua.   
  
"Eddie?" Cade shouted again.   
  
Eddie grabbed his headset when the static had died enough for his head to stop throbbing.   
  
"Foster? What was that?"  
  
"Eddie? The building just blew." Jordan said.   
  
'What?!?" Eddie couldn't believe his words. He quickly started to do long strings of searches, going through newspapers and newsgroups.   
  
"Oh my God." Jordan said, slowly getting up. She gazed at the debris around her and on everyone. She saw a woman cry for help as a few uninjured others tried to pull her out from under a sheet of twisted metal.   
  
***   
  
"I have heard of your accomplishment." Larson said.  
  
"Yes, the operation was a success-"   
  
"Who gave you permission to destroy the building?" Larson said, cutting him off.   
  
"Larson, during the mission, there were several humans who tried to stop us. If we hadn't destroyed the evidence there would've been an investigation."   
  
"Investigation? What do you think is going to happen now?" Larson asked bitterly. "You blew up the building, Aaron. What kind of burial is that? You buried evidence, but now you've created more doors for the humans to look through."   
  
"It needed to be done." Aaron said.  
  
"Mabus will not be pleased. These were not the orders. You were to capture the contagion, not flatten a building." Larson said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."   
  
"What-"  
  
Larson raised his weapon and fired. He looked away as Aaron dissolved.   
  
  



	3. The Contagion

Channel 8 News   
5:10 PM  
  
"At this point, police are baffled at what the motives could be for such a horrible event. Several witnesses recall four men dressed in haz-mat suits entering the building with equipment, which are now thought to have contained the bomb. A number of employees are unaccounted for and are presumed to have died in the explosion. Now the Center for Disease Control has made no official statement concerning the licensed van that was stolen by the bombers. "   
  
Maggie Rivers looked briefly behind her and chided herself for wanting to close her eyes upon seeing the burnt cinders.   
  
"As you can see, behind the police tape, Forensics are hard at work, attempting to determine what caused the explosion and aiding in the investigation of who did it. Many have suspected a radical Animal Rights group calling themselves the Protectors of Earth. These activists have previously been linked to several arsons and the death of a Doctor James Margery, head of research at the biogenetics division of Doors International. "  
  
She moved a few feet and her nose wrinkling at the smell of smoke, she motioned towards the cameraman and the view zoomed, entering the remains of Capital Pharmaceuticals.   
  
"Capital Pharmaceuticals at this time, deny any allegations made that they were planning experimental weaponry or disease. The spokesperson for Capital Pharmaceuticals explains that the company evacuated following an alarm that sounded on Level 9, which we have learned, was used for research in cancer treatment."   
  
Maggie disappeared and a scrawny face of a man in an expensive suit and thinning hair appeared.   
  
"Level 9 is a highly secured area of our facility. It contained what used to be our cancer research and development center, where we were in beta testing of our new drug for tumor eradication."   
  
Maggie appeared again. "Now many have speculated about whether the Protectors for Earth group retaliated against that particular ward, but destroyed the entire building. Some defenders say that their intent was obviously not to harm any human lives, since almost all employees were evacuated before several men entered, posing as CDC workers arrived. For Channel 8 News, this is Maggie Rivers."  
  
Bella turned the TV off. She snorted in disgust. Tying her dark hair behind her into a ponytail, she cast a sideways glance at David, sitting in his chair, reading the same book for the 80th time.   
  
"They blame us for everything." She said.   
  
"I'm surprised we didn't think of it." David said, looking up from his book.  
  
"Don't say that. Whoever did this wasn't for animal rights, and you know it. They did something in there. " Bella said.   
  
"What? Aliens again, Bella?" Martin said, walking in with a bag of groceries. "Whoever blew up that building was from outer space, right?"  
  
"Believe what you will. But if we don't clear this up, we'll be the scapegoat for a witch hunt." She said, shaking her head.   
  
"And how are we going to clear this up? Send a letter to the New York Times?" David made a sad face and set down his book. "Oh, pretty please believe us. We didn't blow up the building, we're innocent." He returned to his usual demeanor. "Trust me, the only thing they need is for word from us to twist the story and make us even worse bad guys."   
  
"Who the hell cares about what those sheep think?" Martin asked. "They'll believe whatever the press tells them. What we need to do claim responsibility. This is a landmark achievement, they've already made up their minds. They think we did it."   
  
"You don't get it , Martin." David said, propping his feet up on the table. "We don't want to claim responsibility."   
  
"This isn't something we want to have on our resume." Bella said. "They killed people."   
  
"You don't know that." Martin shot back. "They don't know that."   
  
"Didn't you hear the news? There are employees missing. They'll never be able to find the remains in the fire." Bella said. She dropped down on the couch.   
  
"So what do we do?" David asked.   
  
Bella thought for a moment.   
  
"We find out who did it." She said. "Because we sure as hell didn't."   
  
"And how do we do that?" David scoffed.   
  
"We find the guy who was there." She said, turning the TV on and playing back a tape. She paused and the image froze, leaving one man's face to fill the screen. "Cade Foster."   
  
***   
  
"So who the hell is this guy?" David asked, his British accent clearly aggravated.   
  
"Cade Foster. " Bella said.   
  
"And that helps us how. Bella?" Martin said. "I've read about him. The guy killed his wife."   
  
"Who was it that said that the public believed whatever the press told them?" Bella asked, looking at Martin. She smiled. "He's innocent. They framed him."  
  
"Who are they?" Martin asked. "And do they have money?"  
  
Bella laughed. "I told you before."   
  
"What? Aliens again, Bella?" David asked. He kicked a crumpled soda can. It clattered against a tin trashcan. "would you just quit it with the aliens?"   
  
"Just because you don't believe doesn't mean they're not real." She said, a smile in her face.   
  
"So how can this guy Foster help us?" Martin asked. He looked up and squinted at the old painted glass windows of an ancient church. He remembered passing by it when he was young. "How's the church going to help us?"  
  
"We're praying to God that whatever plan she has works." Martin said as they entered.   
  
Bella led them to a side door next to the stage. A plaque said "Father Kinney" on it.   
  
"You'll see." Bella said, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a small card. She opened the door and they entered. The small office was unoccupied and she reached down. She pressed the last brick in the wall and there was a small beeping sound.  
  
"What the-"   
  
"Shh." Bella urged.   
  
"Please enter your Identification."   
  
Bella slid her card through a slot. Hidden under a small piece of art hanging next to the light switch. The unique painting depicted the storming of the Bastille in France. Three pillars were surrounded by men with weapons and various images of frantic running and fighting.   
  
"Thank you. Please complete voice scan."   
  
"Bella Harrison." She said.   
  
"Thank you. Please complete DNA scan."   
  
Bella smiled and placed her thumb on the middle of the three pillars. She gently ran it down, accustomed to the small amount of heat generated by the unit hidden behind the wall, masked by the picture. She also knew that if anyone happened to take the picture off it's position, they would find a wall, nothing else.   
  
"Thank you. Welcome, Bella."   
  
Bella walked past the desk and started going down a flight of creaky steps. The dark abyss engulfed her.   
  
"Bella?" Martin said.   
  
"Follow me." She said, her voice coming from the shadows.   
  
"Can I get a flashlight first?" David muttered as he followed Martin down.   
  
***   
  
"Doctor." Jordan Radcliffe said , greeting the two gentlemen.   
  
David's face grew pale. "So you know."   
  
"The late and great Doctor James Margery, I presume." Jordan said, smiling. "Yes. You took painstaking tasks to fake your own death. We're happy to have you aboard."   
  
"I would be too, if I knew what was going on." Martin said. He laughed a bit and it sputtered to an uncertain end as a few people carried silver cases of lab equipment past them.   
  
"I am Jordan Radcliffe." She said, smiling. "We-" She waved a hand at the entire scope of people. "-Are Raven Nation."   
  
"Birds? That's very focused." David said.   
  
Jordan grinned and shook her head. "I guess Bella hasn't explained. We're not animal rights activists, Dr. Margery-"   
  
"Please, call me David. Doctor James Margery died in a tragic accident." He smiled.  
  
"Very well. We're not animal rights activists, as I said before. We are an organization dedicated to preventing-" She took a deep breath. "--The Gua alien invasion."   
  
"Alien invasion?" Martin said in disbelief. "Well, that's something new." His face grew sullen. "Don't suppose I can have that on a t-shirt."   
  
***   
  
7:30 PM  
  
"Eddie." Cade said, taking his sunglasses off as he entered the Nambulous trailer.   
  
"Hey, Foster. You're in luck, Jordan's not here yet." He said.   
  
"Is she bringing those people around? The-"  
  
"-Protectors of Earth?" Eddie said, pulling a chip from a bag. He put it into his mouth, a small crumb falling. "Yeah. Only they're not quite protectors of animals anymore. Jordan had a Raven Nation operative in the organization. Turns out it wasn't much of one, there's only two other operatives."   
  
Cade sat down and examined the bandage he had on his arm. He and Jordan had both suffered minor injuries. They were lucky. There were barely enough ambulances drawn from surrounding hospitals to house all the injured. Most of them were unharmed, though a few required hospitalization.   
  
"How did they cause all that damage with only two members?" Cade asked.   
  
"Well, most of it was speculation. The press tends to make things more dramatic than they usually are. There was one time where they were said to have broken into a lab and freed all the animals and then burned the lab down, but it was actually due to a rival gang making some random hit." Eddie grabbed another chip.   
  
"Eddie, those Gua. I didn't get a good look at all of them, but one of them had a scar. It was on the face, under the eye."   
  
"Well, these are Gua. It'd be easy if we could ID them, but according to our world, they don't exist." Eddie said. "I don't know how I'd track them."   
  
There was a knock at the door and Cade opened it. Jordan peeked from the corner and smiled as Cade stepped out of the trailer.   
  
Cade noticed that she had taken the bandage off her cut, where she had fallen and scratched her forehead on the road.   
  
Jordan noticed Cade's eyes on her forehead. "Get back on the horse and ride again, right?" She said. Cade smiled.   
  
"Cade, this is Bella Harrison." She stepped aside.   
  
"Nice to meet you." She said.   
  
"Where are the others?" Cade asked.   
  
She shook her head. Soft curls shook around her face. "They're back at the base."   
  
"We can't win them all." Jordan said. "They're very skeptical."   
  
"That's all right. it'll take time." Cade said. The door opened and Eddie peeked out.   
  
"Uh, Foster? Hey, Jordan. We have a small break." He said. Cade and Jordan immediately followed Eddie inside. Bella shrugged as she entered the mobile home.   
  
Eddie took his place in front of his computer and took another chip out. He handed the bag to Jordan.   
  
"I think I know what the Gua were taking." He said. "It's off that information you loaded off the company database. "  
  
"Division 4." Jordan said, looking over Eddie's shoulder.   
  
"I did some looking and I found a Section 4. Not quite division, but it's a synonym." He said. "Section 4 was an NSA funded project devoted to creating a new mind control substance. It was scrapped in the late 80's."   
  
"So maybe the NSA has revived the project." Cade said. "Why would the Gua want it?"  
  
"Mind control?" Jordan said. "It's very good to getting what you want."   
  
"But the Gua already have people all over the place in high positions. Why would they need a mind control drug?" Bella piped up from behind.   
  
"That's what I was wondering. So I tried something else. I was thinking that it might have Gua technology so I ran a search of all government projects that included any type of drug. I got one in particular that contained Rydosachyridian, an unknown chemical."   
  
Eddie started to type quickly, bringing up pages and pages of information.   
  
"Unknown. Doesn't mean it's Gua." Jordan said. She frowned.   
  
"That's true, but this new chemical was discovered in the early 60's and it wasn't classified. Which means-"  
  
"-The NSA kept it in the dark." Cade said. "Is there any indication that it was Gua technology?"   
  
"That part I'm stuck on. I'm not sure. We discover new chemical agents all the time, it's hard to determine whether it's alien or not." Eddie shrugged. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and sighed.   
  
"I think I'm going to visit the bomb site." He said, opening the door.   
  
"I'll go with you." Jordan said. She turned to Bella. "Keep an eye on our guests."   
  
Bella nodded and got into her car. As she backed out and headed back for the base, Jordan and Cade headed for the broken ashes of Capital Pharmaceuticals.   
  
"Do you trust her?" Cade asked Jordan. She looked at him as they rolled up to a red light.   
  
"I do." She said.   
  
"Okay." Cade nodded. "What about the other two?"   
  
"I don't."   
  
"They don't believe it?" Cade asked.   
  
"Not only that. Maybe I'm just paranoid. But I just don't trust them." Her eyes grew weary and she sighed.   
  
"I understand, Jordan." He said. "Where are they now?"  
  
"Not at the site for sure." She replied. "They're being watched somewhere else."   
  
"Jordan, if you didn't trust them, why did you let them into the Raven Nation in the first place?" Cade asked, turning into an alley close across the street from the explosion.   
  
"Because I trust Bella and she said these guys were okay. I could nail them if they were Gua." She said. "They're not, but that doesn't change anything. Bella's spent too much time with them. She says she knows them, but I think she might be losing her direction."  
  
They crossed the street and Cade looked behind him before they stepped under the police barricades.   
  
"Excuse me, sir!" A voice called out.   
  
"Uh-oh." Jordan muttered.   
  
Cade and Jordan turned around, smiles on their faces.   
  
Behind their backs, Cade slipped Jordan a card. She took it and slipped it into her back pocket.   
  
"Hi, I'm FBI Agent William Marquette. This is my partner, Jane Haley." Cade turned to "Jane" and she nodded.   
  
"I'm the forensics guy." The man said. He shook both their hands. "Marcus Larson."   
  



End file.
